02/11
After a long break from blogging I now find time to update you on what has been happening over the last couple of days. The last time I wrote I already warned you that we were thinking about a water tank construction project and 10 days later we have made huge advances. We are writing a project plan that I will send to all of you as an email attachment in the next two days. This will state the projects goal how we want to achieve it etc. Additionally we have a rough estimate as to what the construction costs and running costs will be: 2200000KSH. We have contacted the BMZ and were told that a 75% financing was possible, which leaves us with 550000KSH or 5500 Euros. Those that receive a tank will have to contribute so that Anne and I are left with 3100 Euros that we have to raise somehow. I am currently in contact with the embassy in Nairobi for funds and trying to contact the German school in Nairobi for additional money but it would be great if you could also contribute. If you are interested respond to the email that I will hopefully send in the next two days if you did not receive anything by Friday please tell me as it is very hard to organize addresses from an internet cafe and I might have missed somebody.
Last week Sunday Musioki (the nephew of my host father) and I went to Machakos to watch Manchester United be beaten by Liverpool, which was very exciting not only because it was a good match but also because by the time it ended it was dark outside and the city transforms itself when the lights suddenly go out. It was quite an experience taking one of the last buses that left Machakos and seeing the city so empty although it was only about 19:00 especially as the only light source were the head lights of the bus on the winding road down to Kathuni. I arrived safely and we spent the rest of the foot walk to the house talking about football. During the match on several occasions Musioki (I do not really know the spelling...) asked me about the teams, rules and players showing me how little knowledge they really had about a sport so many love. For example he did now know which team was Manchester and which Liverpool and called "penalty!" every time the people in the pub got excited over a foul.
The next day Anne and Patricia arrived and we went to pick them up with a bit of rain fall for the first time in many days. We finally bought mattresses and I was extremely happy to have company. We managed to fit everybody into the small house which meant it was a very good atmosphere. On Tuesday, instead of the planned one day safari and after a morning of planting, we only went to the anti-gravitational field expecting something spectacular but instead finding ourselves watching young men pour water from a puddle on the road for 50KSH. Then however the water did in fact run up the road instead of flow down which was impressive. I still cannot explain how it worked.
On Wednesday we went to Wamunyu the place where wood carving was supposedly first practiced in Kenya. There were beautiful things but Peter had trouble admiring the work because he always mentioned how many trees had to be cut down in the process. A day later Patricia left us and returned to Nairobi but was happy to have come. Since then Anne and I are getting along very well and we have finished all the planting, which leaves us with football practice for me and playing with the children much better than me for Anne. I have begun reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and am enjoying it just as much as his other works.
I have to leave the internet cafe now but as I will be coming back in the next couple of days I will update you with part 2 then.
Hope you are all well!